Marking Your Music

Before You Start

Before you make any marks on any sheet music you get, make sure
it is yours to mark!

And if you didn't read the first sentence: Make
sure you are allowed to mark, fold, staple, and otherwise mutilate the
music on your stand. Printed music is expensive and many bands only
have one copy which is expected to last for many, many years and many
players long after you've gone your merry way. So, if you are not absolutely positive that the sheet you
have is yours to mark, ask.

If the sheet music you have is just a “loaner” you may be able to
copy it. Again, ask. Some band organizations do not permit
photocopying. Others turn a blind eye, or even actively encourage the
practice. Again: ask.

Why to Mark

There is only one reason to put any marks on your sheet music: to make
it easier for you to play without getting lost or making mistakes.
Assuming you have read the first section in this essay, the reasons
for marking bits of a score may include:

Repeats and other “road map” information is easily lost on a
black and white score. When you're speeding along and come to a “repeat end” and you can't find the “repeat start”, you're in big
trouble.

Key signature and time signature changes are sometimes easy to overlook.

Dynamic information is very easy to ignore.

Accidentals which are in force for a measure and ones from
unaccustomed keys are easy to skip.

Don't put phone numbers, addresses of friends, reminders to get bread
and milk on your music. Don't create doodles of cute puppies. Don't
use your music to pass along comments about the conductor to your
friend(s).

How to Mark

If the music you have is not yours, but you have permission to
make erasable corrections on it (perhaps your band is skipping a
section, you need to play a harmony note or, heavens forbid, there is
a mistake on the score) do so in pencil which can easily
erased. Again, get permission first!

And if you do mark in pencil and need to erase, don't use the awful
eraser on the end of a pencil. These just tend to make a smudge. Use
a proper, soft, art eraser. Please.

Now, if the music is yours and you have permission to make marks.
Well, you can just go crazy. Oh, no! That won't do you any good at
all. You only want to highlight or mark the things which are truly a
problem. Anything more will, ultimately, just make life harder for
you. Trust me.

I really like transparent markers. You know, the ones you can get at
the dollar store (I get packs of four in different colors. A buck for
all four. Great deal.) And, yes, there are erasable markers available.
Don't rely on always being able to erase them, but there is nothing
wrong in using them.

Now, lets think about what needs to be marked and how to do it.

Repeats

Ordinary repeats probably do not need to be marked. Certainly, the end
of the repeat is pretty obvious when reading a chart. But, sometimes
the start is very hard to find. So mark it. Lots of folks have a
standard color for this and always use the same color for this and
other markups. I try to use a green for repeat stuff, but it's up to you.

Second (and third, etc.) endings can be hard to find. Especially
when the preceding ending spans more than a few measures. If it's
not obvious, mark it.

Other Road maps

The other traffic signs in music (other than repeat start/end) are
items like "D.S.", "D.C.", "To Coda", etc. Again, if you are playing
a piece and there is a marking directing you to another place in
the music you probably don't need to mark it. However, you may
have problems finding the “where to jump to” place. Invariably
this will be a “sign” or a “coda”. Publishers try their best
to make these easy to find, but when they fail mark them.

The “musical standard” says that you don't repeat sections
after a “D.S.” or “D.C.”. Check with the conductor and if
the answer is different from the “standard”, mark it!

Key Signatures

In most cases you don't need to mark these. The key is plainly marked
at the start of a song and at the start of each line. You have lots of time to review this before
you start. Get in the habit of always checking the initial key!

When a key changes in the middle of a piece a good score will have
a double bar line before the change and a good amount of white space
around the new key. Again, probably not worth marking.

However, if you are playing in unfamiliar keys or have a lot of
changes, you might need to mark them. Again, mark only the ones
which give difficulty while playing, not every blasted change!

Accidentals

Players, even experienced ones, can have trouble with certain
accidentals. Fact of life.

So, if you find that you are missing a flat, sharp or natural which
is assumed from the key signature you might want to mark it. Don't
forget, the proper solution is to practice your part and learn the
accidental.

Please, don't ever go though a piece and put a flat sign beside
every blasted “b” in a piece that is in the key of F, etc. It
not only makes you look dumb, it also makes it hard for anyone who
knows how to read music to play the piece.

Time Signatures, Tempos

The same comments and rationals apply to time signatures as
mentioned above in the key signature section. Only mark them when it
is really necessary!

If you are playing in a band or orchestra the conductor sets the
tempo. The conductor signals when to speed up or slow down. That's
one of his or her functions and they tend to get very upset when you
don't follow their direction.

So, don't mark tempos and tempo
changes on your music. Instead, learn to watch the conductor and
follow him or her. You'll all be much happier musicians!

It's quite appropriate to mark difficult timings or articulations.
Writing the counts (ie. 1, 2, 3, &, 4, &.) is a common thing to do.
Articulations in music are usually already notated (slur lines,
dots, etc.) so you shouldn't need to re-emphasize.

Dynamics

Getting louder and softer are a very important part of playing. In
many cases, you should be able to feel when you need to change. But,
again, in a band or orchestra you have this conductor person whose
job it is to tell you when to change dynamics. Please follow the
conductors lead!

There are times when you will need to adjust outside of the
conductor's directions or that of the music. If you have a lead
part, you might need to play it louder (especially if you have an
unbalanced group and a lot of players are on the harmony). In
pencil simply write a reminder like melody
or louder. Why pencil? Most likely because next month there
will be more or fewer of you playing the part and you'll need to
change the direction.

Summary

Mark as little as you can.

Mark only on music you have permission to mark.

Don't use marks as an alternate to actually practicing and learning
your parts. It doesn't work.